Electrical components can be provided as molded injection devices (“MID”) with desired printed conductors. In contrast to conventional circuit boards made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic or the like, MID components manufactured in this way are three-dimensional (3D) molded parts having an integrated printed conductor layout and possibly further electronic or electromechanical components. The use of MID components of this type, even if the components have only printed conductors and are used to replace conventional wiring inside an electrical or electronic device, saves space, allowing the relevant device to be made smaller. It also lowers the manufacturing costs by reducing the number of assembly and contacting steps. These MID devices have great utility in cell phones, PDAs and notebook applications.
Traditional methods of manufacture are tool-based technologies, which have limited flexibility, long development cycles, difficult prototype, expensive design changes, and limited ability to produce miniaturization. Accordingly, it is becoming increasingly popular to form MIDs using a laser direct structuring (“LDS”) process. In an LDS process a computer-controlled laser beam travels over the MID to activate the plastic surface at locations where the conductive path is to be situated.
In a conventional LDS process, a thermoplastic composition can be doped with a metal containing LDS additive such that it can be activated by a laser. The laser beam can then be used to activate the LDS additive forming a micro-rough track on the surface. The metal particles from the LDS additive present on the surface of the micro-rough track can in turn form nuclei for the subsequent metallization. However, due to different chemical plating solutions and conditions used, the plating performance of conventional LDS materials can vary in ways such as plating rate and adhesion of plating layers. In addition, some LDS fillers have a surface pH that may be detrimental to the polymer matrix during processing, resulting in degradation of the polymers. This polymer matrix degradation leads to, for example, decreased ductility for the final composition. The changed ductility, along with and other property changes, may result in substantial, and potentially undesirable, changes in the material's overall properties.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a LDS blended thermoplastic composition (or LDS compound) having good plating performance while maintaining good mechanical performance. It would also be beneficial to provide a thermoplastic composition that is capable of being used in a laser direct structuring process. Accordingly, there remains a need for thermoplastic compositions that prevent or reduce polymer matrix degradation during processing. This and other needs are satisfied by the various embodiments of the present disclosure.